I HAVE AN ILLNESS.
It's one shared with many and particularly with the sort of people who pick up motoring magazines. Perhaps you have it, too. Let's call it Icoulddothatitus. Luckily, I get regular treatment for the condition. In this job, you're often treated to passenger rides with exceptional driving talents. Just recently at a Ferrari event I got to sit beside Carlos Sainz Jr in a 296 GTB. Roughly seven seconds after exiting the pitlane I knew deep in my bones that I would never be able to drive like him. The aggression, confidence and control were mind scrambling, elating and soul destroying in equal measure. I've had similar experiences over the years with WRC drivers, former DTM champions and ex-F1 drivers. There is no doubt in my mind that high level racers work in a different realm. Out of reach.
It's a different story with professional drifters and all that Gymkhana nonsense, though. This is the area where my strain of the disease is focused. While those of sound body and mind boggle that Insert Rad Dude name here can drift a flame snorting 1,000bhp monster with grace and accuracy, I wonder why anyone is surprised. These cars are designed solely for that very thing. They are stiff, relatively light, have the balance between power and grip swung radically in favour of the former and they have a hydraulic handbrake. A three-year-old could get them sideways and hold big angles with ease. Assuming they could reach the pedals. I accept and celebrate the entertainment aspect of this art form but the 'skill' is low level at best.
この記事は BBC Top Gear UK の September 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は BBC Top Gear UK の September 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
HEAD TO HEAD VANTAGE vs 911 TURBO
For as long as we can remember the Porsche 911 has been the default best sports car money can buy. Does the new Aston Vantage represent a changing of the guard?
BOSS LEVEL:PART TWO
In a world exclusive, three makers of the world's most powerful hypercars are cordially invited... to drive each other's creations
THE THEORY 0F EVOLUTION
Ridged bladder seats, an inflating steering wheel and an AI track day coach... has Lotus hit on the supercar's future, or gone mad?
Koenigsegg Jesko Attack
The Jesko Attack drives like a conventional supercar. Brakes like one, turns like one, grips like one. But it doesn't accelerate like one.
STIC LAPS are back!
It's a 1.75-mile figure of eight on an old Canadian Air Force base just south of Guildford. Hardly Monza, or the Mulsanne straight, and never in a million years - you'd think a place that would become one of the most sought after performance benchmarks in the motoring world.
URBAN OUTWITTERS
Does the solution to city motoring lie in designs from the past with powertrains from the future? TopGear goes in search of answers... at rush hour
FUTURE FERRARIS
If you thought Ferrar's past was colourful, wait until you see what it's cooking up next. The future's bright, the future's rosso
DIRTY DOZEN
Ferrari's new super GT makes no secrets about what's under the bonnet, but can it swallow five countries in just a few hours? Better get on with it...
MYTH BUSTER
\"ADAPTIVE DAMPERS ALWAYS NEED TO ADAPT\"
The S2000 from a parallel universe
Meet Evasive Motorsports’ Honda S2000R, the car the Japanese firm should have built itself